USA

Ever since Thomas L. Friedman, Pulitzer Prize winning author, published “The World is Flat“, we have been listening to the mantra of the world becoming a completely level playing field for companies for many years now. Other authors such as Pankaj Ghemawat continue to remind us that we’re still quite far from a borderless world, […]

Over the past few years I have often been asked what the main differences in the workplace culture between my native Austria and the United States are. I still don’t have the perfect reply, but here are some observations. First and foremost, Austrians have a dislike for authority, particularly in the workplace. Austrians are well educated, they […]

As the English edition of the Chinese newspaper Renminbao (People’s Daily) reports, fourth quarter sales at Yum! Brands, the parent company of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and Pizza Hut have significantly declined. What has happened in the Middle Kingdom that not only has a huge love for chicken dishes, but also for foreign brands, a […]

Yes, we’ve all heard the story about the Chevrolet Nova (not true as I have reported on this blog earlier), the Mitsubishi Pajero, the Mitsubishi Colt and other car models. However, behind those obvious and funny stories of branding blunders, there’s also some cultural richness and subtlety to explore. Have you ever thought about the […]

Late last week, US-based home improvement giant Home Depot announced that it would take a $ 160 million after-tax charge and close seven of its big-box home improvement stores. Home Depot entered China with high hopes in 2006 when it acquired 12 stores across China. Over the years it had reduced the number of stores to […]

Looks like Deutsche Boerse and the New York Stock Exchange are in their final stages of negotiations over a takeover by the Germans. Price-tag: about 10 billion. Upside: synergies and better competitive position vis-a-vis emerging stock exchanges in other parts of the world. Downside: integration is never easy. Neutral: the home of capitalism is no […]

Exports were mentioned repeatedly in President Obama’s State of the Union address. Such U.S. presidential focus is very special and hasn’t happened since the “Export Now” campaign in Reagan days. Though exports have no party affiliation –the policies leading to them do. The U.S. economy needs a boost. Though the world may count on the […]

Not too long ago, at the end of the 1980s (although I acknowledge that for some of the followers of this blog this equals a lifetime), Japanese investment in the United States peaked at about US$ 20 billion. By then, management scholars had long begun to study the Japanese miracle. Based on a general fear […]

Yes, we have all heard the stories. Stories of patients in need of treatment in the Western hemisphere traveling to countries such as Thailand or India in need for more affordable healthcare, stories of hospitals in the so-called developed world outsourcing certain diagnostic procedures to the so-called emerging markets, or stories of hospitals in the […]

If approved by UK authorities, Asda, Wal-Mart’s British arm will be acquiring almost 200 UK stores of the Danish Netto chain for an alleged amount in excess of 1 billion US$. Acquiring smaller stores seems like a good move for Wal-Mart in Europe. First, shopping habits in many regions seem to change in a way […]

In a recent post, Australian business blogger Andre Sammartino reports that South African grocer Pick’n’Pay has sold off its Franklins supermarkets (“Australia’s Original Discount Grocer”) to the biggest Australian grocery wholesaler Metcash. It’s not the first time that Franklins has been sold off after a somewhat unsuccessful takeover. In the late 1970s Franklins was sold to […]

As the Wall Street Journal reports, Dunkin Donuts is returning to Russia. After it has retreated from the market in 1999, the owner of the Dunkin’ Donut brand, Dunkin’ Brands, is planning to open 20 stores in Russia this year. At the time when then owner Allied Domecq decided after only three years in the […]